"One well-ordered, well-disciplined family tells more in behalf of Christianity than all the sermons that can be preached. Such a family gives evidence that the parents have been successful in following God’s directions, and that their children will serve Him in the church." E. G. White, Adventist Home, p. 32.

Women's Ordination? Women in Pastoral Ministry?

You are about to embark on a journey into a Special Investigation of the Biblical Truth about Authentic Women's Ministry in the Christian Church, and more particular, its application to the current contention within the Seventh-day Adventist Church over the ordination of women to the gospel ministry.

North American Seventh-day Adventist Pastor~Richard P. Mendoza (RPM) is the special investigator on this website, and seeks to build acase in favor of what is truly the Authentic Women's Ministry to which God is calling all women;

"I take full personal responsibility for the accuracy of all the statements contained and made herein, whether they are my own or those of whom I may be quoting. My sincere intent is to rightly represent exactly what the Bible teaches about the truth of Women's Ministry, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth of Sacred Scripture. It is also my sincere intent to honestly and accurately represent the statements of the proponents of Women's Ordination, and all those whom I may reference herein."

* The Bible Truth of Authentic Women's Ministry is based upon what the Bible actually says about the ministry of women in the Christian Church. While the Biblical principles presented herein are applicable to all churches, the distinctive mission of Authentic Women's Ministry is specifically focused on:

A frank and honest analysis of the current issues now brewing within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, around the world, and specifically here in the North America Division-NAD.

A thorough analysis of the arguments that have been and are being used to sustain the cause of Women's Ordination by prominent NAD Adventist Scholars and Theologians, as well as both male pastors, and those females who feel they are "called to be pastors." Their arguments have been made public and have been published on the NAD websites. These arguments are analyzed by Authentic Women's Ministry as to their Biblical accuracy and soundness. The results of this Biblical Investigation are published for public examination, thus; "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind" Romans 14:5. "Prove ALL things. Hold fast to that which is good" 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

CJB 2 Peter 1:20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own;

ESV 2 Peter 1:20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.

GWN 2 Peter 1:20 First, you must understand this: No prophecy in Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation.

KJV 2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

NAB 2 Peter 1:20 Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation,

​​

​While the investigation and findings of Authentic Women's Ministry represent my personal understanding of the Biblical teaching on this matter, no doctrine of the Bible of "prophecy of Scripture" is to be held subject to the private interpretation of theologians and scholars. All interpretations of the Holy Bible promoted by theologians and scholars, and anyone for that matter-including myself . . . all teachings which are claimed to be the doctrines of the Bible, are to be subjected to public examination and scrutiny. This is the FIRST lesson or rule of Biblical hermaneutics/interpretation. That which is the Bible truth should be able to be seen by the general public as being the obvious truth, and not confined to a handful of theologians and religious professors. Truth is not limited to one individual, but belongs to all.

The arguments of the leading proponents of Women's Ordination have been made public and can be viewed on the following websites;

​​These are the source links for the NAD Campaign for Women's Ordination and the arguments being used to sustain their cause, which Authentic Women's Ministry is opposing. The distinctive mission of Authentic Women's Ministry is specifically focused on:

Challenging the legitimacy of the promulgation of female "pastors" and the campaign for their ordination by the NAD Division, which is in direct opposition to the World Wide Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the authority of the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Sessions and their valid decisions.

* Therefore, the arguments and rationalizations of the NAD, will be evaluated in light of the sound Biblical teaching regarding the role women in Christian ministry~both in the Home Family and in the Church Family.

The following Biblical Investigation is a Biblical & Spirit of Prophecy analysis of the NAD websites which are devoted to achieving the goal of the ordination of women to the gospel ministry so as to legitimatize women as authentic pastors.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church of the 21st Century is now sailing over the deep sea of theology, and she is facing a serious crisis; The fracturing of her hull~which has been formed by the Church's adherence to The No. 1 Fundamental Belief~ that "The Bible and the Bible Alone is the Rule for all faith and practice, and the basis of all reform." This historic time-tested foundation upon which the World Church has been built and which has kept her afloat for so many years upon the perilous and treacherous seas of worldly philosophy and religious theology, is now coming under an incredible amount of pressure. The stress being exerted upon her hull is not only the result from forces from without for the most part, but from within the vessel itself. The challenging of both the historical theology and practice of the World Church regarding "the ministry," and in specific "the ordination to the gospel ministry," is a manifestation of a changing of the foundational principles of Biblical Interpretation upon which the Church has been held together in the unity of the faith, by belief in the truth of God, and by trusting in Jesus Christ and taking Him at His Word. The new principles of interpretation which are being used to sustain the theology in favor of the ordination of women, are now threatening to unchain the Church from her Anchor of the Word of God, to split her hull sending her adrift in pieces to be blown about with every wind of doctrine, and even threatening take her down to the bottom of the sea floor if at all possible. This is not the premeditated malicious and conscious work of the proponents of certain non-Biblical doctrinal error, but the spiritual effect of adopting such religious principles. [See the Seventh-day Adventist Beliefs; 28 Fundamental Beliefs-PDF - for the historic position of the Church; Compare these to the New Principles of Interpretation-Look under the NAD Summary page heading-Hermeneutics]

In the year 2010, after 20 years has passed since the World Church first voted NOT to ordain any women to the gospel ministry, the inauguration of the Theology of Ordination Study Committee by the World Church took place. As a result each of the 13 World Church Divisions have established Biblical Research Committees [BRC] to work with the Theology of Ordination Study Committee [TOSC]. These Special Research committees have been in the process of studying the issue of "the theology of ordination", but in reality the core issue is "the ordination of women."

As of January of 2014, all of these division committees have presented their BRC Reports to their specific Division's Year End Meetings, as well as submitting these BRC divisional reports to the General Conference TOSC. These Division Reports are now in the process of review to determine a possible proposal to the next General Conference Session to convene during July of 2015, San Antonio, Texas, USA. The General Conference Biblical Research Institute (in addition to the 2010 specially appointed TOSC), has previously studied the issue of Women's Ordination and published their findings favoring the ordination of women, but the BRI it was composed of a very limited number of theologians, just a hand full or so. The GC TOSC, however, has a mass of contributors and representatives from various world fields and educational backgrounds. Its findings should be much more enlightening and representative of the whole church body. The GC has also encouraged each Union Conference of the World Church to establish their own BRC to study out the issue of ordination according to the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.

In addition, the GC has issued a public call for ALL churches and ALL their members to study the matter and give their input on the issue, such as the promotional of "The Year of Listening." I am fully supportive of such an initiative for all 17 million church members around to the world to seriously study the matter in both the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, and I have been and will continue to encourage everyone to do this. For far too long now, especially here in the NAD, publicity of the issue has been unbalanced and biased in favoring those who support women's ordination. The World Church has called for a fair and balanced hearing of both sides. It is unethical to give the proponents more time and space in our church publications than their opposition. Truth will be established, not by silencing or restricting the voice of those who oppose our views, but rather by facing them head-on, hearing every objection, and giving an answer for the hope that is within us, with humility and respect, 1 Peter 3:15.

And this is my concern with proposition and supposition that there is no Biblical or Spirit of Prophecy evidence either advocates the ordination of women to the pastoral ministry (including ordination as elders or any position at all) OR whether they deny and reject such a theology and practice.

While it is commendable that the World Church has been encouraged to study out the issue and will consider both sides of the case, the problem is that if you have not been selected to sit on one of the committees, then your voice and contribution is limited to only 200 words per person. The NAD BRC allows for church members to respond to their recent reports, but limits their words to the minimal of 200. Is this really fair and ethical, when we are seeking to discover what the World Church truly believes and not just what some representatives may believe? The NAD portrays the matter as IF the whole of the NAD is in favor of the ordination of women in order to rally more supporters to their cause, when this is not the case as it really is. They really do not want to publicize the fact that there are many in the NAD, churches and pastors, church members-including both women and men, and even conference executives and officers, and even some Union officials who do not support the NAD's campaign for women's ordination. This is why no articles opposing women's ordination are permitted to be published in the NAD publications (except the Michigan Conference Memo). This is part of the voted NAD strategic aggressive war plan set forth in the NAD Presidential Commission on Women in Ministry. This documented strategic plan should be read by ALL Adventists, so we will be informed as to why things are happening the way they are, here in the NAD, and what we should expect to be forthcoming

In arriving at a balanced view and understanding of Bible truth, we should not confine our consideration of points being raised in favor or that are opposed to the ordination of women to just a limited number of committee members, nor to those with whom we associate, nor to those who only favor our point of view. Bible Truth is validated not just by those who agree with us and our views, but also by those who disagree with and even oppose our views. I am saying all this to make the point that because of the restriction and limitation of general church member involvement in the whole process, there may be some points that the committee has not seen, and therefore may not give due consideration too. Some of these overlooked or by-passed points are presented here on Authentic Women's Ministry, and this is one of the main the purposes of publishing this site.

Every member should be given a fair and reasonable hearing, no matter who they are or how long it may take to hear them out on the matter, especially on such a vital issue and contentious issue, that is affecting the WHOLE of the World Church. We cannot assume that the TOSC has heard every point before, or given them due consideration. Remember the committee consists of only 100 or so members out of a World Church of 18 million members, certainly there would be some ideas the committee may not have discovered or seen on their own. These ought to be given due consideration. This is even more true regarding the biased NAD BRC, who have unjustly and unethically limited the presentations opposed to women's ordination to a minuscule amount of 9%! No stone should be left unturned.

Ellen G. White wrote under inspiration, the following intense and pointed counsel for God's Remnant people living in the 21st Century;

"God would have ALL the bearings and positions of truth THOROUGHLY and PERSEVERINGLY SEARCHED, with prayer and fasting. Believers are not to rest in suppositions and ill-defined ideas of what constitutes truth. Their faith must be firmly founded upon THE WORD OF GOD so that when the testing time shall come and they are brought before councils to answer for their faith they may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in them, with meekness and fear." {5T 707.3}

"It is important that in defending the doctrines which we consider fundamental articles of faith we should never allow ourselves to employ arguments that are not wholly sound."

"These may avail to silence an opposer, but they do not honor the truth. We should present sound arguments, that will not only silence our opponents, but will bear the closest and most searching scrutiny."

"With those who have educated themselves as debaters there is great danger that they will not handle the word of God with fairness. In meeting an opponent it should be our earnest effort to present subjects in such a manner as to awaken conviction in his mind, instead of seeking merely to give confidence to the believer." {5T 708.1}

In light of all that I have stated thus far . . .

SINCE . . .

The NAD proponents of female "pastors" have been given a much more prominent voice over that of their opponents and over their opposing arguments to the ordination of women as female "pastors". . .

[see the NAD web links to follow below, and also the December 2013 Lake Union Herald article "North American Division Response To The Question Of Ordination" (pp. 20-22 ). The NAD determined the amount of time and space given for each side to present their case on the basis of who had the greater number of votes-182 in favor to 31 opposed to the ordination of women at the NAD year End Meeting.]

AND due to the restriction of the number of words which visitors can submit for consideration by the two NAD main website . . .

THEREFORE, Authentic Women's Ministry is respectfully encouraging the full and exhaustive consideration of all the facts and arguments submitted by both sides of the issue of Women's Ordination. ~ READ & STUDY everything there is from both sides on this critical matter.

In all fairness and equality, the Bible truth will only be revealed byNOT limiting one group or another to a certain amount of words or space or time that is not fully EQUAL to their opponents, but by a full and equally fair disclosure of all the arguments, and a most critical and scrutinizing investigation of all the evidence either for or against the ordination of women, not only as "pastors" but even as elders.

Ellen G. White made it beyond clear that the Foundation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its beliefs, doctrines, standards of faith and practice, and also the basis of all reforms (which is what the ordination of women is) is THE BIBLE and the BIBLE ALONE, for it is THE BIBLE that is to "decide ALL Controversy."

Now, since there are those who take the position that neither the Bible nor the Spirit of Prophecy either forbid or affirm the ordination of women, and since we are instructed by inspiration to "demand" a "Thus saith the LORD'" BEFORE we accept any doctrine or precept, then it holds that the doctrine and practice of ordaining women as pastors, and even as elders, not only needs to cease, but must be rejected both in theology of ordination and practice of the same. Why? Because WE do have clear evidence from the Bible that only men were ordained as "elders" of congregations of God's people, to be the spiritual leaders and overseers of the churches in "every city" Acts 14:23 & Titus 1:5. NO woman was ever ordained as an Apostle or elder, ever.

If the Bible is to "decide all controversies," then this is decisive regarding the supposition of the ordination of women, and all debating is over and promptly should come to an end. BUT the fact that there is still such a great deal of controversy brewing within the Church in certain quarters, reveals that there are those who have not allowed the Bible to decide this controversy. They will even say that "a Thus saith the LORD" is NOT necessary before instituting the ordination of women as a practice of the church (which this is a "precept" and "doctrine"). But in order to institute such a practice, we must forego an adherence to the inspired counsel of EGW and no longer allow the Bible to decide the matter. A NEW philosophy of Bible interpretation has been introduce which CHANGES how we read and understand the Bible. Now, we must either believe that God means what He says or not;

"God requires more of His followers than many realize. If we would not build our hopes of heaven upon a false foundation we must accept the Bible as it reads and believe that the Lord means what He says. He requires nothing of us that He will not give us grace to perform. We shall have no excuse to offer in the day of God if we fail to reach the standard set before us in His word." 5T 171.1

We need to be meticulous, calculated, and even exhaustive in our investigation of the Biblical evidence either for or against the ordination of women, and also when examining "the Spirit's call" of women to the ordained gospel ministry in the church to serve as "elders," "chief elders" (apostles), and "spiritual leaders," (this is genderneutralized terminology, which is in reality referring to the"spiritual fathers" of the church family, See 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2; this should not be taken in the catholic understanding of the "holy father" being the priest or mind over the people, which Adventists reject). The Bible plainly tell us that we are to "test the spirits, whether they ARE of God" or not, "for there are many FALSE prophets" (those who say there are speaking for God) "that have gone out into the world" and not all of them are of God. 1 John 4:1.

Authentic Women's Ministry is my (pastor RPM) personal investigation and analysis of the NAD "majority view," and that of its editors and publications, and its BRC, as well as some of the GC TOSC members. I have written to some of these leading proponents of women's ordination, and I submitted my personal investigation and the Biblical objections which I have raised against the proposal of the ordination of women and the promulgation in favor of the ordination of women to the pastoral ministry. As of now, I have yet to receive a response or an acknowledgement of any consideration being given to me from my home division. The e-mail addresses of committee members are kept private, although some are made accessible through other channels, so it is not very easy to get them to consider some obscure person. And now as of May 2014, it seems unlikely that my voice will be given due time and consideration by the NAD BRC or the GC TOSC members. It appears from reading their websites that they have already come to their conclusions and are now being to direct their attention to finding solutions. Most likely they will not be giving much time or space anymore for further consideration of Biblical evidence and arguments, at least from non-members. They are assuming they have heard everything there is to hear concerning the matter, and its now time to move on.

Since the NAD arguments have been made open to the public, then they are also open for public comment and criticism. Since those who serve as the web monitors for the NAD website and the proponents of Women's Ordination only allow 200 words for response by the general church member for commenting or raising any objections to their 170 Page Report, (of tens of thousands of words in favor of Women's Ordination), there must be another public avenue whereby the voices of those members in the NAD, who are opposed to women's ordination, can be given a fare hearing with and along side of the "vocal minority"(NAD proponents) in favor of the ordination of women here in our division. They have their views published on their NAD website on the world-wide-web. but limit their opposition's publication to about 9%, while they give to themselves 91%. Secrets Unsealed has recently held a Symposium on Women's Ordination for this very same reasons. Also recently aired 3ABN Women's Ordination live panel discussion (form the 2014 ASI Convention, in Grand Rapids Michigan) with Doug Batchelor, Stephen Bohr, and Elder Jay Gallimore, raised similar concerns.

Since the NAD will not give equal time and space to the opposing views on their own website, then it is not out of place to have these opposing views published on independent websites. If one would consider and evaluate the time and space given in our NAD publications to the proponents of Women's Ordination in comparison to those who oppose them same, the results reveal an unethical imbalance 91% vs. 9% - See the evidence for this fact made public by the NAD on their own website publications;

Here is the statement of this fact by the NAD President regarding the 2013 NAD Year End Meeting, where he states this in an interview about the proceedings and process;

"DJ: The committee presentation contained two parts. The first was a minority report that was against the ordination of women and the second was a majority report that favors the ordination of both men and women equally. Each side was given an allotment of time to present their findings to the NAD Year-end Meeting. The time allotment for each presentation was determined based upon the proportion of the vote* of each proposal made to the committee."

* That number was 182 in favor to 31 in opposition. There were 10 presentations in favor, as opposed to 2 in opposition. There were 240 total pages for the Full NAD BRC Report, and 187 pages for both groups, with an additional 22 pages of end notes; So 170 pages given to those in favor and only 17 pages for those opposing the ordination of women. The NAD BRC promotional lead video on their site is a montage of people, who all favor the ordination of women, (none of those that I recognize on the committee, who are opposed to the NAD majority view, are featured on the video. The theme of the video is "United in Mission," which places the primacy of what determines the validity of women's ordination on accomplishing the "MISSION" of the church by whatever means or method it requires, and NOT on whether we have such a mandate or authority for doing such from the plain statements of the Word of God as given in the gospel commission and sustained by the practice of the New Testament Church.

Think this through; The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the "Remnant Church of Bible Prophecy" and is to be a "carbon copy"of the Apostolic Church, of which there was NOT one women elder or apostle! When we leave the replication of the Apostolic Church Model of Gospel Ministry in our contemporary church, can we continue to legitimately qualify as the Remnant Church, the last part of the great original Church Christ established Himself with NO women apostles, "spiritual leaders," "elders?"

THEREFORE; This is the motivation behind Authentic Women's Ministry:

While trumpeting the leading argument for the Ordination of Women~"EQUALITY," the proponents of "equality for women in ministry" contradict their own principle of "equality" by limiting their opposition to a minimal amount of time, only about 9% of the time allotment, while giving themselves 91% of the time for their own defense of their views, this is in both the spoken presentation and written publication. This is hardly ethical and surely not a demonstration of true "equality" in ministry. This must not go unchallenged by our World Church Body, the majority of whom (based on division membership, about 11M to 3-4M) are not only opposed to the ordination of women, but who are also opposed to women even serving as unordained pastors! Here is the evidence;

Archives, Statistics, and Research: for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Here is the full statement testifying to the no-desire for women pastors, ordained or not by the majority of the World Church members, which you will not find published on either the nadordination site nor the NADministerial site;

July 11, 1990 “136-90Ga ORDINATION OF WOMEN TO THE GOSPEL MINISTRY

Prior to a vote being taken, the Chairman requested all delegates and visitors to pray individually or in small groups for the leading of the Holy Spirit. The delegates were then asked to vote by a show of hands and a count was made with the following results:

In favor of the recommendation: 1173 In opposition to the recommendation: 377

VOTED, To accept the following report and recommendations of the Role of Women Commission as recommended by the 1989 Annual Council:

The presidents of the world divisions of the General Conference reported to the Commission on the situation in their fields with respect to the ordaining of women to the gospel ministry. In several divisions there is little or no acceptance of women in the role of pastors, ordained or otherwise. In other divisions some unions would accept women as pastors, but indications are that the majority of unions do not find this acceptable. However, in the North American Division there seems to be wider support for the ordination of women.

The division presidents also reported that based upon extensive discussions, committees, commissions, surveys, etc, there exists the probability that approving the ordination of women would result in disunity, dissension, and perhaps even schism. Hence the presidents came to these two conclusions:

1. A decision to ordain women as pastors would not be welcomed or meet with approval in most of the world Church.

2. The provisions of the Church Manual and the General Conference Working Policy, which allow only for ordination to the gospel ministry on a worldwide basis, have strong support by the divisions.

The General Conference and division officers present at the Commission concur with the conclusions of the presidents.

The Commission, having listened to the arguments and presentations for and against the ordination of women; having sensed the needs and concerns of the world field; having carefully considered what is probably best and the least disruptive for the world Church at this time; and recognizing the importance of our eschatological mission, the witness and image of our spiritual family, and the need for oneness of and unity in the Church, reports to the 1989 Annual Council of the General Conference the following results of its deliberation:

1. While the Commission does not have a consensus as to whether or not the scriptures and the writings of Ellen G. White explicitly advocate or deny the ordination of women to pastoral ministry, it concludes unanimously that these sources affirm a significant, wide-ranging, and continuing ministry for women which is being expressed and will be evidenced in varied and expanding gifts according to the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

2. Further, in view of the widespread lack of support for the ordination of women to the gospel ministry in the world Church, and in view of the possible risk of disunity, dissension, and diversion from the mission of the Church, we do not approve ordination of women to the gospel ministry.

The chairman, Calvin B Rock, outlined the program for this business session dedicated to the request of the North American Division regarding ordination:

The president of the North American Division, Alfred C McClure, will make a 20-minute presentation giving the background and rationale of the North American Division’s request. Then P Gerard Damsteegt from the SDA Theological Seminary of Andrews University will give a 20-minute presentation on why he cannot support this request. Raoul Dederen, also of Andrews University, will then present the opposite viewpoint of why he is in favor of the request. It is hoped that with these presentations, the delegates will have a good overview of both sides of the issue. The floor will then be opened for discussion by the delegates and at approximately 4:45 p.m., the chairman will call an end to the debate and Robert S Folkenberg, president of the General Conference, will make a few remarks prior to a secret ballot being taken.

Voted, 1. To limit the individual speeches of the delegates to two minutes if spoken in English, and three minutes if a translation is given.

2. To support the program for the afternoon business session as outlined by the chairman.

Prayer was then offered by Calvin B Rock.

Following the presentation by Alfred C McClure, Charles E Bradford, former president of the North American Division, was asked by the chairman to make a few comments. After the presentations by P Gerard Damsteegt and Raoul Dederen, the floor was opened to debate by the delegates with the chairman alternating between delegates standing at the for and against microphones.

Shortly after 5 p.m. an action was voted to cease debate of the motion and Robert S Folkenberg spoke for a few moments, closing with prayer in which he asked the Holy Spirit to be present and to guide in the decision of the delegates. The motion before the floor was read for clarity as follows:

“Voted, To refer to the 1995 General Conference Session the North American Division request that the General Conference in Session adopt provisions on ordination as outlined below:

“The General Conference vests in each division the right to authorize the ordination of individuals within its territory in harmony with established policies. In addition, where circumstances do not render it inadvisable, a division may authorize the ordination of qualified individuals without regard to gender. In divisions where the division executive committees take specific actions approving the ordination of women to the gospel ministry, women may be ordained to serve in those divisions.”

Delegates were then instructed to turn in their secret ballot cards to their division representatives. A count of the secret ballots was made with the following results:

In favor of the recommendation: 673 In opposition to the recommendation: 1,481 Total number of votes: 2,154

RPM Comments: Both World Church GC Sessions voted against permitting the ordination of women to the gospel ministry as pastors, thus, if they HAD vote in favor of this proposal, they would have been validating those intern female pastor's ministry. BUT the ordination of women was NOT approved, and by an overwhelming majority of the World Church, and with the FULL AUTHORITY of the General Conference Session, to which every one of the now 17 Million member should submit and not "stubbornly maintain their independence"

As of now, February 2014 (originally I wrote this during October 2013), ALL church members and church official should submit to the will of the World Church as voted in General Conference Session, that WE as a PEOPLE do not approve of the ordination of any woman to the gospel ministry.

Though NOW the 13 Division Reports on the Theology of Ordination reveal a more favoring of, or at least less opposition to, the ordination of women, the fact remains that our official World Church position is NOW, in May of 2014, that no women be ordained to the gospel ministry anywhere in the world. The forecast of the NAD Pacific Union would have us believe that of the 13 Divisions, that only 6 are really opposed to the ordination of women, but another 6 are in favor, and 1 is neutral and will follow whatever the church decides. The problem is that if we take the division's membership, we have quite a different picture; of 17 Million members about 11M are opposed to the ordination of women as pastor or even serving as elders or unordained pastors, while only about 3-4M would be in favor-IF we were to conclude that every member in each division believed the same on this issues. I would be interesting to see the results if every member were allowed to vote. My point is that the forecast is not an accurate prediction of the future reality. We will soon see what that is at the actual 2015 GC Session. If things go as they have the last two GC Sessions, the ts will not be any different.

Please NOTE the authority of the World Church AS OF NOW 2014, extends to every member of the Church and to every subdivision;

The 1946 General Conference Session action that all “changes or revisions of policy” in the Church Manual shall be “authorized by the General Conference session” reflects a conception of the authoritative status of General Conference sessions that has long been held. In the 1877 session this action was taken: (bold, italics, underline emphasis are those of RPM)

“Resolved, that the highest authority under God among Seventh-day Adventists is found in the will of the body of that people, as expressed in the decisions of the General Conference when acting within its proper jurisdiction; and that such decisions should be submitted to by all without exception, unless they can be shown to conflict with the word of God and the rights of individual conscience.”—Review and Herald, vol. 50, No. 14, p. 106.

Ellen G. White wrote in 1909:

“But, when, in a General Conference, the judgment of the brethren assembled from all parts of the field is exercised, private independence and private judgment must not be stubbornly maintained, but surrendered. Never should a laborer regard as a virtue the persistent maintenance of his position of independence, contrary to the decision of the general body.”—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 260.

See the Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual where these statements have been taken from.

2013 NAD presidential statement:

In an interview, Jackson said [when he apologized for the NAD stepping beyond its legal authority when they changed their working policy to allow for the ordination of women] the North American Division would continue to promote equality of men and women in leadership positions. He said ordination is “a separate issue” and would not be addressed at this time.

“We have no intention of dropping the consensus of the North American church that we need to

empower our women of God who are called to be pastors and leaders,” Jackson said. “We will not move

RPM: It seems quite unethical to "empower" the 107 women "pastors" of the NAD with such time, effort, and expenditure, and show such favoritism and specialized attention to them while at the same not providing the same equality of support and promotion for the male pastors, who are real legitimate pastors, and who may be ordained under the official and full authority f the World Church.

Ordination is not a "separate issue" from the NAD campaign to "empower our women. . . who are called to be pastors and leaders" for that is what the whole of the strategic Presidents Commission of Women in Ministry is calling for, until they can compel the World to finally legitimized their own views contrary to what theWorld Church has already said "No" too.

Ordination is not a "separate issue" from the NAD WO campaign, but one which the NAD wishes to separate from their goal of placing women "pastors" into the working force of the church in strategic posts of influence so as to obtain leverage in the long run and get the church conditioned to the acceptance of women as legitimate pastors. Of course the NAD wants to make ordination "a separate issue" so they can continue with their aggressive plan to get as many female "pastors" into place as possible, before the 2015 CG Session. This is why they skirt around terms such as "elders" and "pastors" and seek to replace them with the gender-neutral "spiritual leaders." The Bible ties the terms "elder," "pastor," "bishop," "overseer," "priest" and "apostle," who serve in church leadership roles over congregations, exclusively to the gender exclusiveness of MALES. If the ordination of women issue were to be kept intact with the NAD plan, then they would be forced to wait for the World Church to make its decision for the third time, and thus delay the NAD's implementation of their strategic plan to achieve their goal of ordination of women pastors no matter what the World Church thinks anyway. If the ordination of women dilemma can be kept out of what the NAD is trying to do to "empower women" and place them in churches as pastors and in conference and unions as "leaders" (they mean leadership positions that have been restricted by Church policy to only ordained male ministers), then they can continue moving ahead with their strategy to get the church to accept women as legitimate pastors and conference/union presidents, until such a time when they can finally get the World Church to ratify what they already have done, though it has not been with official sanction of "ordination." "Ordination" becomes secondary to the implementation of the practice of operating a working plan of female pastors functioning as IF they were ALREADY ordained, They'll get the ordination latter, but at least they are being permitted to act as if they were ordained, though they are not.

​NAD NewPoints Interview after NAD Year End Meeting in November of 2013;

Defining the Theology of Ordination Study Committee Report

An interview with NAD administration regarding this important issue

NewsPoints sat down with NAD President Dan Jackson and NAD Executive Secretary G. Alexander Bryant to discuss the recent vote of the North American Division and what the report from the NAD TOSC means:

NP: So did the NAD Executive Committee vote to approve the ordination of women after the report was given?

GAB: No. The NAD Executive Committee voted to accept the report and to affirm its findings. This report will then be sent on to the GC TOSC.

We did not vote to start accepting the ordination of women. That would be moving ahead of the process that has been put in place by the General Conference. What we did was to inform the General Conference of where we stand as a Division on this issue. We are prayerful that the World Church can come to a consensus on this issue and we can then focus on continuing the mission of the North American Division.

In the above statements (all emphasis is that of RPM) taken from the interview with NAD executive leadership, it is clear that the spokesmen for the NAD have publicly made it known that they "will not move away from" empowering women by driving home the ordination of women until the World Church finally votes "to start accepting the ordination of women."

The wording here is critically significant, in that, the NAD Executive Committee has not opposed the ordination of women, because they have already allowed such ordinations within their division, in certain NAD unions and conferences, in fact the Executive Committee is in favor of these ordinations of these women! Now in this interview, they are saying that IF they were to vote "to start accepting the ordination of women" this would be "moving ahead" of the process. They allow it, but do not now "accept" it.

In 2012 the NAD stepped beyond Church Policy by voting to change their working policy to allow for women to be placed in and occupy positions that are restricted to only ordained men. And so now, they assure the World Church they would not do this again by stating;

"We did not vote to start accepting the ordination of women . . . would be moving ahead of the process that has been put in place by the General Conference."

We can be assured that IF the General Conference had not VOTED against the ordination of women, the NAD would have voted to accept those ordinations of women, already having been allowing them,

By the NAD statement that they "did not to vote to start accepting the ordination of women" who already have been ordained in it own division, they are only implying that they do not opposed such ordinations as going contrary to the World Church authority, but only that they have not yet "startedaccepting" these ordinations. They are ready to do so, and have been for over 23 years, and would have done so IF somebody didn't stop them. The NAD presidential statement should not be taken as saying "we are oppose those ordinations that have already taken place," nor should this be taken to mean that they are opposed to the fact that the South East California Conference has already elected a conference president who is unordained-which IS contrary to the World Church authority on this matter, as is stated in its Church Manual, Working Policy, and even the NAD Policy. The SECC did this on the assurance that the NAD Working Policy change was legitimate and the fact that they knew the NAD Executive Committee approves of such, but that they could not legally and technically vote such policy contrary to that of the World Church Working Policy.

"The General Conference conducts much of its work through its divisions, which in turn are comprised of unions in specific areas of the world. Each division of the General Conference is authorized to carry out responsibilities in the territory assigned to it. It shall act in full harmony with the General Conference Constitution and Bylaws, the General Conference Working Policy, and actions of the Executive Committee.

"In order to carry the authority of the General Conference, the actions of division committees shall, of necessity, be in harmony with and complementary to the decisions of the General Conference in Session, and the actions of the General Conference Executive Committee between Sessions" (General Conference Working Policy, 2011 - 2012, p. 1).

The World Church leaders have responded to such illegitimate actions;

“The 1990(3) and 1995(4) General Conference Session decisions with respect to granting ministerial ordination to women represent the current voice of the Church in this matter. The actions of certain unions indicate their desire to establish an alternative source of authority for a matter that already carries the authority of the world Church” (“An Appeal for Unity in Respect to Ministerial Ordination Practices") . . .

“The essence of unity in Seventh-day Adventist organizational functioning is the mutual commitment of all organizations to collective decision-making in matters affecting the whole family—and the acceptance of those decisions as the authority of the Church. The action of any union in pursuing a different course of action represents a rejection of this key value in denominational life.”

​The General Conference has made it clear that they do not recognize the ordinations of those women who were illegally ordained in the NAD, and also the woman who was placed in the presidency of the SECC of the NAD.

Now, for the NAD to say they would not "start accepting the ordination of women" implies or leaves room for the permitting of the ordination of women to continue. This statement does not mean what it first appears to mean. The NAD representatives are going to continue to allow these ordinations to take place, and they will not put a stop to them as they should. See elder Dan Jackson's remarks above. They will allow them to continue to accumulate in the NAD, they just wont "accept them" right now. If they did opposes the ordination of women then they would be going against their own strategy for the ordination of women, as outlined in the NAD Presidents Commission on Women in Ministry document, which the whole of it is clearly contrary to the will of the people as expressed by the decisions of the General Conference World Church Body, and is in violation Church Authority, and the counsel of the Spirit of Prophecy for submission to the will of the World Church in this particular regard. The NAD is working against the World Church to overthrow its previously voted policy, please read their strategy for yourself.

For 23 Years there have been some who have been "persistent" in their maintaining of a "position of independence, contrary to the decision of the general body"-which has been expressed in both the 1990 and 1995 GC World Church decisions against women being legitimatized as pastors by the ordination to the gospel ministry.

The authority of the World Church still stands, and "that such decisions should be submitted to by all without exception!" The World Church has made their decision 23 years ago that women will not be ordained as pastors, and thus receive legitimacy to their "pastoral ministry," which means their "pastoral ministry" is not recognized, approved, or legitimate. This position has not yet been able to be shown to be in conflict with the word of God nor the rights of individual conscience for 23 years, though every conceivable effort and means of re-educating the World Church has been vigorously made, and in fact is still being attempted by the majority of the NAD representatives-see www.nadordination.com.

Now, please note how the above Church Manual statements are in harmony with the following EGW counsel on doctrinal unity among the brethren;

"If one man takes his views of Bible truth without regard to the opinion of his brethren, and justifies his course, alleging that he has a right to his own peculiar views, and then presses them upon others, how can he be fulfilling the prayer of Christ?" [John 17 "that they may all be one."]

"And if another and still another arises, each asserting his right to believe and talk what he pleases, without reference to the faith of the body, where will be that harmony which existed between Christ and His Father, and which Christ prayed might exist among His brethren?" {CET 201.2}

"Though we have an individual work and an individual responsibility before God, we are not to follow our own independent judgment, regardless of the opinions and feelings of our brethren; for this course would lead to disorder in the church."

"It is the duty of ministers to respect the judgment of their brethren; but their relations to one another, as well as the doctrines they teach, should be brought to the test of the law and the testimony; then, if hearts are teachable, there will be no divisions among us. Some are inclined to be disorderly, and are drifting away from the great landmarks of the faith; but God is moving upon His ministers to be one in doctrine and in spirit." {CET 203.1}

So, as an employee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and as an ordained minister of this denomination I feel an obligation to voice my understanding of Biblical truth on this matter in opposition to the publicizing of views that are obviously getting a lot of public attention, but which have not fully met the test of the Scripture's requirement of a "thus, saith the LORD." Therefore, I submit my private/personal investigation and analysis of this issue of "What The Bible Says About The Ordination of Women" for public examination and validation as to whether my views are valid and Biblical, and represent exactly what the Bible teaches or are erroneous and therefore should be rejected.

The Biblical Objections to the Ordination of Women (either as pastors or even as elders of local Church Congregations). This list is a summary of the Objections, the Biblical supporting evidence will be given on the link for each Objection raise herein below:

1. The Ordination of women is NOT Biblical at all, that is in any degree whatsoever. Never was a women ordained.

2. It is in direct opposition to Creation Order and The FAMILY which God originated in and from the beginning

3. It is Contrary to the principles and rules for Spiritual Leadership and Rulers set up by God in the Old Testament~Male Headship

4. It is Contrary to the Foundation of the Christian Church as being built upon Christ as the Chief (Elder) Corner Stone and His establishing the ordination of Apostles as the foundation of the New Testament Church and its organization.

5. It is Contrary to the Remnant Church being a duplicate of the Apostolic Church which had NO WOMEN elders, apostles, nor pastors as the spiritual overseers of any church congregations.

6. It is Contrary to the Biblical REQUIREMENTS~for anyone who desires the "office of a bishop" (elder/pastor), and the GENDER EXCLUSIVENESS of inspired Holy Scripture requires that the elder/pastor "MUST BE the HUSBAND of one wife" and that "he MUST rule his children well," and that also his home family must be kept in working order with all due respect for him as "the head of the home." This includes having a faithful wife who is submissive in "everything," who "loves her husband" and "loves her children," even "obeys her husband" and would even call him "lord" of her own free will, and who does not back-talk him nor usurp his God-given authority and undermine his teaching and instruction, including on spiritual matters in the home as well as the church. Ephesians 5:23-26, 27-33; 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:1-16; 2:3-5; 1 Peter 3:1-7.

7. It is Contrary to any and all examples of ordination in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.

8. It is Contrary to the Historical Theology and Practice of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

9. It is Contrary to God's Calling to Women and the SET Order for Women's Ministry in the Church Family as "mothers in Israel" as is detailed in Titus 2:2-5 in contrast with Titus 1:4-10; 2:1-2.

10. It is Contrary to NATURE in the natural order of distinction of men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.

11. It is Contrary to the FAMILY/CHURCH FAMILY Parallelism of the New Testament and the rules for Church Order and Authority of the Spiritual Leaders-Elder/Pastors.

12. It is Contrary to the Unity of the Church~the World Wide Remnant Church of Bible Prophecy and its world-wide authority and jurisdiction, and the Oneness of the Spirit and in Faith and Doctrine and Practice.

13. It makes Spiritual Gifts contradict the Biblical Standard for Elders/Pastors to be "husbands of one wife," for women cannot be husbands~ever, and this is determinative in allowing the Holy Spirit to give the spiritual gifts severally as He Wills!

WE have NO record in all the Bible of the Holy Spirit calling a woman to the apostolic ministry nor the pastoral ministry nor the ministry of elder over any congregation over the 60 or so years, from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost until the visitation of the Holy Spirit to John the Revelator on the Island of Patmos. Thus, WE have NO Biblical record of the given of the spiritual "gift of pastor" to even just one woman, anywhere in the whole of the Biblical record. It would seem that if indeed women were privileged to ALL the gifts, as it is claimed, and that since the Spirit was indeed poured out on the Day of Pentecost-and thus it came "to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy", that certainly on that DAY of the outpouring of the fullness of the Holy Spirit that at least one women would have been "called" to speak in tongues the "wonder mercies of God" and been allowed to baptize some of those 3, 000 souls into the church and be appointed to serve as their pastor! What discrimination! What inequality! And not one women objected! Not even God Himself objected to the male-discriminatory domination of gender exclusiveness of the Christian men (mind you) of the New Church. What a way to start off the Gospel dispensation!

This Biblical fact undoes the Spiritual Gift argument that the Spirit has called and gifted women to the pastoral ministry~the gospel ministry just as He did with the Apostles and elders of the New Testament. Over 60 Years of Apostolic Church History not one women was called and ordained to be a preacher in the gospel ministry as was the Apostle Paul (MUST SEE 1 Timothy 2:7).

14. It is Contrary to the Biblical Historical Record of The Calling of MEN ONLY Into The Ministry when there were plenty of women present and who were known among men, who could have been called and ordained. BUT WOMEN were NOT called by the Holy Spirit nor by any apostle and set over any church congregation as their spiritual leader/pastor. The case should rest at this point. But due to the persistence of some who will not accept the plain testimony of the Bible, we must press on in our investigation and application of the Biblical facts.

​15. It is found in violation of the Biblical principles of interpretation; foremost being the hermeneutic that says "All should prove their position FROM the Scriptures" The Bible and the Bible alone is the only rule of faith and practice for the Christian, and the basis for ALL REFORMS. See EGW The Great Controversy 595.

God's Word To The Nations Titus 2:1-8

1 Tell believers to live the kind of life that goes along with accurate teachings. 2 Tell older men to be sober. Tell them to be men of good character, to use good judgment, and to be well-grounded in faith, love, and endurance. 3 Tell older women to live their lives in a way that shows they are dedicated to God. Tell them not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of virtue. 4 In this way they will teach young women to show love to their husbands and children, 5 to use good judgment, and to be morally pure. Also, tell them to teach young women to be homemakers, to be kind, and to place themselves under their husbands' authority. Then no one can speak evil of God's word. 6 Encourage young men to use good judgment. 7 Always set an example by doing good things. When you teach, be an example of moral purity and dignity. 8 Speak an accurate message that cannot be condemned. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed because they cannot say anything bad about us.

Biblical Investigations is dedicated to defending the Authentic Ministry of Women just as God has ordained it, and just as it has been revealed in the Holy Bible. God has laid out for His Remnant Church of Bible Prophecy a Blue Print for the gospel ministry of women in the Church. The ministry of women is vital to the success of the building up advancement of God's Kingdom. The Enemy of God knows this, and he seeks to cripple, warp, maim, and destroy God's design for women in the Church. The devil has been at work derailing multitudes of women from off the track of the God-given ministry that God has ordained them too. Women's Ministry must be redirected to comply with the Biblical standard and the will of God.

Therefore, Biblical-Investigations.com is devoted to proclaiming the Biblical Truth about Women in Ministry and defending this truth from the discoloring which modern society and culture have painted over this Bible truth. Pastor Richard P. Mendoza, November 2013.

"We are on dangerous ground when we cannot meet together like Christians, and courteously examine controverted points. I feel like fleeing from the place lest I receive the mold of those who cannot candidly investigate the doctrines of the Bible."(1 Selected Messages 411.1; Emphasis supplied)

"Those who cannot impartially examine the evidences of a position that differs from theirs, are not fit to teach in any department of God's cause. What we need is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without this, we are no more fitted to go forth to the world than were the disciples after the crucifixion of their Lord" (1 Selected Messages 411.2; Emphasis supplied).

"We must learn that others have rights as well as we have, and when any of our brethren receive new light upon the Scriptures, he should frankly explain his position, and every minister should search the Scriptures with the spirit of candor to see if the points presented on a new subject can be substantiated by the inspired word."

"Let all prove their position from the Scripture and substantiate every point they claim as truth from the revealed Word of God."Evangelism, p. 256.

"God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority--not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord" in its support."

Ellen G. White - The Great Controversy, p. 595.

"The word of God is the great detector of error; to it we believe everything must be brought.

The Bible must be our standard for every doctrine and preaching. We must study it reverentially. We are to receive no one’s opinion without comparing it with the Scriptures. Here is divine authority which is supreme in matters of faith.

It is the word of the living God that is to decide all controversies."